The statists are fond of saying that ours is a “living, breathing Constitution,” which can be interpreted according to the prevailing winds of politics. But when words have no fixed meaning, then they have no meaning at all. Let us consider a Constitution that guarantees citizens ”freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration.” Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? It’s the Constitution of China. Maybe that’s what the statists want.
Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Vote Stevens Miller Out of Office
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010by jacob
They are having a poll over at the Loudoun Times today. Who would YOU like to see voted out of office. Well. We all know the answer to that question. The biggest idiot in the history of Loudoun Politics: Stevens Miller
Follow the link here
http://www.loudouni.com/themes/people
And put your displeasure on record. Power to the people.
Real Health Care Reform
Friday, March 12th, 2010by jacob
When it comes to health care the public option is not the only option. There are many other ways to cut costs in health care. Part of the equation is that lack of Health Insurance does not equal lack of Health Care. This equivocation is a lie that has been perpetrated on the American public. Hospitals are required to treat patients. While emergency rooms are an inefficient vector for delivering health care, government takeover is even more inefficient means of delivery.
There are many other ways of reducing costs. First of all reduce the price of the insurance. How? First, start by allowing competition across state lines. The trouble with health care is that there is already too much government control and spending in this sector of the economy. Any solution that increases public sector influence in this segment of the economy will only lead to greater cost. What is needed here instead is a freer market. People should be allowed to shop anywhere for their medical health insurance. If people can find their own car, home and life insurance — they are also capable of choosing/finding health insurance — preferably in a free market.
Part of the current trouble is that the Federal and State Governments have not allowed for a free market. Dictating that insurance companies include given services in health care contracts does not provide choice; it instead has the opposite effect. A healthy 25 year old does not need the same type of coverage as the middle aged. The insurance companies should be left to provide a wider range of services. An example of the this kind problem is that men in their 20’s are forced to buy into health care insurance packages that include gynecological services. Services that are targeted toward various demographics will allow consumer choice and will encourage greater participation.
The next part of the equation is the fact that we, as a people have frankly ridiculous expectations when it comes to health care. We all have car insurance. Do we expect Geico to pay for tune ups, new tires and oil changes? No. Of course not. If automobile insurance did pay for such maintenance then we would be paying $8K to $10K per year for our car insurance. We have home insurance, do we expect insurance to pay for home maintenance? If we could buy insurance that did not cover a check up or a “Johnny has the sniffles” sick visit we would see our health care premiums slashed by some 30% to 40%.
Then there is the tremendous cost to the public caused be medical malpractice law suites. There are three culprits in this issue. The doctors, the lawyers and the public at large.
The Medical profession has historically refused to truly police itself. When doctors in the past proved themselves to be incompetent or negligent, the medical board would typically close ranks and protect one of their own. This is white equivalent of the blue wall of silence. This in turn lead to the second problem — lawyers.
The second culprit are the trial lawyers cum ambulance chasers. When satisfaction could not be found due to the AMA’s intransigence, the law was the only recourse for the public at large. The trouble here is that this profession has also jumped the shark and now we have lawyers trolling for cases through the media with lines like “If you even THINK you MAY have been wronged …” Which plays on the weaknesses of the third party in this dance. The public.
Many people think they will get rich suing their doctor. This is typically false. Especially in class action lawsuits. The only people who make out in class action suits are the lawyers. The thousands who are represented get a token check. The medical insurance company pays out millions. The lawyers get rich. The people paying for health insurance get stuck with the bill. Tort reform should concentrate on this issue first and foremost.
The end result is where we are today — doctors paying medical malpractice insurance premiums to the tune of $150K-$250K per year, per doctor. That is a burden of some $45B to $75B per year just to service malpractice insurance premiums. A burden that is passed on to the public at large. This does not include the costs of defensive medicine, whose impact on the price of medicine is even larger, and even harder to determine.
A possible solution is one where doctors who are repeatedly found negligent would see their licenses revoked. This would benefit the public on two fronts. First of all the medical profession would improve. Secondly, if the bottom 10% of the profession is gone, or improving then the number of lawsuits would drop. As the profession becomes a better risk, then the price of medical services will drop because the overhead from malpractice insurance will drop.
Health Care and Health Care Insurance are not the same thing. Emergency rooms are unfortunately the most expensive means of delivering medical treatment. An alternative are Health Care clinics with extended hours for the uninsured to handle sniffles, ear infections, or some minor trauma. Such clinics could deliver quality health care at a price that is far less than than sending people to the emergency room. Out of pocket expenses could be kept further down as the paperwork caused by insurance is out of the picture. People spend $75 for a plumber, or $30 for an oil change. Why is it too much to expect someone to pay $50 to $100 for the treatment of a simple medical problem?
For more complex issues, such as the uninsured with cancer, the current solution has its troubles, but the government single payer solution is worse. If the insurance industry were allow to provide plans that target catastrophic issues only, such plans would cost far less than the ‘Cadillac’ plans typically provided today. The numbers of the uninsured would certainly drop because cheaper is more accessible.
More than likely some will not be covered. No solution will bring us to Utopia. The trouble with the 3000 page mess we are being threatened with is that Utopia would not even be on the horizon. Currently we have some 10M to 30M who are not covered today. We can reduce this number by reducing the price of insurance with greater market based choices. A medical profession that vigorously polices itself, coupled with some sort of tort reform, will reduce the price of insurance further. The alternative proposed by the left is the government taking control over what should be our own personal business.
Election Day
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Nice day for a intraparty contest. Huge turnout. Among local personalities I saw Greg Stone and Jim Plowman (talking to guy in photo), Bob Wertz, Eugene Delgaudio, Bulletproof Monk and many others. No sign of Jacob Ash or LI, which surprised me, thought they would be spending the day there.
Results should be available any minute now.
UPDATE: Loudoun GOP Web site says Mark Sells has won the chairmanship of the Loudoun County Republican Committee. Congratulations, Mark!
Why I’m voting for Mark Sell
Friday, March 5th, 2010Wow. I’ve decided….
I finally figured that I would rather have Mark Sell as the leader. A lot has to do with the AG coming out for Mark. Some has to do with the weak statement that Candice is a 2nd amendment supporter because she used to shoot competitive rifle (Mark works for the NRA and is a life member … hmmm, which is a stronger statement?) Then there is the intangible that I like that Mark lives in a townhouse, and is more of a common man than Candice. He isn’t the upper middle in which Candice flies, he is Joe Average. I think that may be more important than all the other reasons.
I would like to see the “unwashed” masses of conservatives more closely represented than what has been in the past, and I think Mark will do that much better than Candice will … if for no other reason than Candice is so far removed from that level of field. So, yes, I’m saying being a successful person in business economics is a negative in this case.
Brian Withnell
Leadership And Vision
Friday, March 5th, 2010by jacob
As we come to the end of the campaign for the LCRC Chair, I am asking people to consider what my esteemed compatroit Greg Stone has said. It is about leadership. Mr Stone it absolutely correct. We need the best possible leadership for the upcoming campaigns. We are dealing with a majority of Democrats and Independents in the BOS in 2011. We will need to contend with recruiting potential candidates for these seats. This challenge comes with the large pool of volunteers that will be needed. The new candidates will need help from our LCRC, and for this the GOP in LC will need a plan. Mark Sell has the vision and the plan in place to lead us going forward …
Recruiting the right candidates–
Candidates who know how to create jobs, meet a payroll, and keep a budget!Raising Money to support those candidates–
Systematically leverage our revived and energized Republican base here in Loudoun to widen, deepen, and diversify our fundraising pool.Resource state-of-the-art campaigns–
with world-class websites, research, and polling.Reach Loudoun–
We are not going to give up a single group, demographic or individual voter to our opposition but will reach out to the independents, moderate Democrats, and minority groups who share our values.Roasting the current Democrat/Independent Majority on the Board of Supervisors–
and their job-wrecking, business-busting, tax-and-spend-and-tax-some-more policies that are leading Loudoun tiptoeing down the road to fiscal ruin.
Please take some time to read the plan and vist Mark’s website: http://www.sell4chairman.com/
You will see that Mark has the plan the vision and an understanding of the local scene here in Loudoun that will lead to the ouster of the big spenders in 2011.
EASTERN LOUDOUN RPV VICTORY FIELD DIRECTOR ENDORSES MARK SELL FOR LOUDOUN COUNTY REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
Friday, March 5th, 2010Mark Sell, candidate for Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee, yesterday released the following statement from Kyle Kunkler, the Eastern Loudoun RPV Victory Field Director in 2009:
I consider Mark to be an instrumental part of the GOP 2009 victory in Loudoun. Mark Sell’s ability to recruit and coordinate volunteer activities was essential. Throughout the campaign season, Mark came through and was able to motivate volunteers time and time again to come out and support our Republican ticket.
Mark was involved in virtually every aspect of the grassroots campaign in Loudoun from door to door events to the staffing of ‘Back-to-School-Night’ events for half of the county to his participation in various festivals, fairs, parades and community events. Mark brought people to these events, and participated, standing shoulder to shoulder with the volunteers that he so frequently was able to motivate into action. Mark also participated in phonebanking, the 72-Hour Task Force, and Election Day Operations. No job is beneath Mark, he knows that in order to lead one must be willing and able to do the grunt work needed to win an election.
Mark Sell always had a can-do attitude, and is ready to do whatever is needed to help a campaign. With his long background of activism in the local Party, Mark understands the nuts and bolts of what it takes to win the ground war. I wholeheartedly endorse his candidacy for Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Party.
Klye was the Virginia Republican Party’s coordinator for eastern Loudoun. He lead the victory team. He oversaw the day to day trench warfare of the political campaign here in eastern Loudoun. The guy knows who brought the goods to the table. Mark Sell kept a steady stream of volunteers coming through the door. Volunteers are the life’s blood of a political campaign, especially at the local county level. The ability to put boots on the ground is called leadership.
It was this kind of leadership that helped make last falls campaign the success that it was. Politics is about advancing an ideology at the balot box. The Republican Party’s stated ideology is conservative. We all are conservatives here in Loudoun GOP. Some conservatives, like Mark, have been giving voice to conservatism for years in the public square. This involves, among other things, running campaigns. With this experience, Mark is able to consistently bring people to events. This is how campaigns are won. This is why Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli endorsed Mark for our Chairman. This is why the 2009 Victory Campaign in Loudoun endorses Mark Sell in 2010 — to take back the BOS in 2011!
The Free Marketplace Of Ideas Which Is NOVATownHall Blog
Friday, March 5th, 2010by Joe
Dagnabit this is inspiring, and I sincerely hope we can maintain this level of citizen activism in November 2010, November 2011 and November 2012. Especially, 2010 and 2012 – unless we can get an impeachment movement going, which would take some pressure off the 2012 aspect. I have not yet begun cataloging my issues with Joe Biden, although I am sure there are many. (I do have a feeling that the key to running against Joe Biden is, let Joe be Joe.)
For Loudoun County Republican Committee Chair, Jacob supports Mark Sell. See here and here.
Greg Stone and I support Candace Strother. More here and here.
Since I run the blog and pay for it and do all the nasty behind-the-scenes work and field all the complaints, I get to put Candace in the sidebar with her photo – but make no mistake about it: We NVTH people are divided as to who should be the next LCRC leader. But as a testament to our corporate wonderfulness, let it be spoken that the NOVATownHall bloggers are divided, yet free to speak our minds. If he were not so backlogged and short of sleep, we’d probably even let Grigsby chime in.
In any case, I appreciate the diversity of opinion. Whatever happens on Saturday, I am certain we will all be on the same page on Sunday.
And if he is half the man I think he is, Jacob will likely trump this post with another that sends this one lower down the page.
A Call For Unity
Friday, March 5th, 2010by jacob
Monk, thanks for reminding me to sign my previous article. It was an oversight. I appreciate your pointing it out.
As for rattled, hardly. With Ken’s endorsement and the endorsements of hundreds of others, I see Mark running a strong race. Mark saw all the venom on the blogs directed toward him and Candace back in January. He also saw all the old wounds in the party getting opened up. In order to squelch all that he asked me not to post stuff about the campaign on this blog. The party does not need the venom. By the way, that is called leadership. Leadership is about knowing what is right, and not just giving in to ones baser instincts to hit back. This is what Ken did when a number of blogs were attacking him.
Notice the difference. When Greg Stone posted an article or two about Candace, I did not call it a steaming pile. Or denigrate anyone. When I saw Tags endorsement of Candace, I did not lament it. I also did not frame it as a poor choice on Tag’s part, nor try to dilute Candace with some statement about Greg Stone calling Tag on her behalf. You have.
Like I said yesterday, this party separates the men from the boys on SUNDAY. Where will you be? This is why I am asking you and others in the party if you will support the winner from Saturday, on Sunday. I will be there from day one. That is the adult thing to do. Candace has called for it, this is also leadership. You support her — so what gives? A simple yes or no will suffice. We need unity, the stakes are too high.
This is not about ripping each others guts people. The party does not agree on who is the best choice. The remedy for this is tomorrow’s election. The remedy is not demonizing and denigrating one another. The two campaigns have kept to the high road. That is called leadership.
A New Reason Why Voting For Candace Strother Is The Best Choice Tomorrow
Friday, March 5th, 2010by Joe
I have possibly one new reason you have not heard so far. I will detail this below – but for starters: To vote for Candace Strother as LCRC Chairperson tomorrow, all you have to do is join me, Linda B, CathyMac, Greg Stone, the Monk, and the current leadership of the undeniably successful Loudoun County Republican Committee, and go to the following location:
When: Saturday, March 6, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Where: Belmont Ridge Middle School (click here for directions)
Show your ID, vote for Candace. It is that simple. Now, here is another reason to do so:
I have now heard from numerous people who are urging me to not vote for Candace Strother, that the key person who has endorsed Candace Strother – current LCRC Chair Glen Caroline – is completely incompetent: Glen Caroline, who took the job of LCRC chairperson when no one else wanted it, and who led the disparate elements of the committee to a united, winning effort in November, 2009; and who won the award as the best unit leader by the state Republican Party in December.
This man – Candace Strother’s opponents keep telling me – supposedly cannot tie his own shoes.
This line of argument has me questioning the veracity and judgment of those telling us not to vote for Candace Strother. It strikes me as borderline unethical to not begin every discussion of Glen Caroline with a THANK YOU for what he accomplished when no one else would even take the job. I happen to like Candace’s opponent a lot, don’t get me wrong, and I have never heard his personal opinion of Glen Caroline – and I forgive my good friends Jacob Ash, Ken Cuccinelli, and others for their difference of opinion. They have obviously not heard the same narrative I have heard, and they are doing what personal loyalty demands which I respect.
But now having heard once more the narrative that the sky is purple, that Glen was a bad leader, I think something is fishy. I think those who are scripting the opposition to Candace Strother are doing so from a position of bad faith. I think it demonstrates a measure of displacement from reality, and when I hear people evangelizing on such a basis I immediately am inclined to do the opposite. I will support whoever wins, but there is a pack of lies going around and I don’t want those spreading it near the controls.
Let’s keep a good thing going here. Join us in voting for Candace tomorrow.
Why Mark Sell is the Right Choice for The LCRC Chairman Today
Thursday, March 4th, 2010by jacob
Today Loudoun County is at a crossroads. The people need to make a choice, either they can take back control of their government, or, they can leave it to the fiscally challenged Board of Supervisors (BOS) dominated by liberal Democrats. If the choice is to take back control, then Mark Sell is the man for this job. As a life long Republican Mark has been a campaign volunteer, Precinct Captain, Magisterial District Chair and Party Treasurer. Mark has paid his dues and learned the ropes in multiple campaigns. Mark has learned what needs to be done on the ground, in the trenches, to win elections. In the last election Mark was a deputy for Ken Cuccinelli in his successful campaign to become our Attorney General. The McDonnell-Bolling-Cuccinelli team ran as unapologetic conservatives, and won in a landslide.
Mark plan is to field a full suite of candidates, who will build on this momentum. Candidates who will remember their conservative roots, and that their duty is to the people. Candidates who are also unapologetic about their conservatism. Candidates who know that a government that governs well, governs least. Smaller government demands that the spending must be cut. Mark plan is to field a full slate of fiscal conservatives to oust the big spenders on the BOS in 2011, and engage every constituency in our county. This will require seasoned leadership. It is for this reason I support Mark Sell for Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Party and ask you to come out and vote him on March 6th, 2010.
We all have seen our party lose its way in this last decade. The spending excesses of our Republican congress, and our local county elected officials resulted in a Republican Party as a small minority. The party deserved what it got. The party must never again forget its fiscal conservative roots. Small government is good government. If we do not reduce spending we cannot reduce taxes without running even higher deficits. Runaway government spending is the root of our economic woes. Mark will find candidates who understand this, and more importantly, will not forget this.
As a long time grass roots activist in Loudoun County, Mark has worked hard to stop the Meals Tax, the increases in the Sales Tax and on other liberal boondoggles, giving voice to our shared Republican and conservative ideals in the public square speaking before our BOS on many occasions, so that the people of Loudoun will not be saddled with even higher taxes. The People of Loudoun deserve better than what they have been burdened with in past years. Loudoun has the highest tax rate of any county in VA. Loudoun even has highest taxes of any county in the South. We can and must do better. To do so, we must win the BOS. To do that we need a leader who has been there, in good times and in bad, and who knows the ropes. Mark Sell will not need on the job training. He will be ready to lead from day one — Mark knows Loudoun.
For more details about Mark, his plans and his vision for Republican victory in our county go to www.sell4chairman.com
VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN CUCCINELLI ENDORSES MARK SELL FOR LOUDOUN COUNTY REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE CHAIRMANSHIP
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010by jacob
Mark Sell, candidate for Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee, today has released the following statement from Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli:
I can attest from first-hand experience that Mark Sell is an excellent choice for Loudoun County Republican Committee Chairman. Mark has worked side-by-side with many of us over the last decade on key conservative issues ranging from the fight against tax hikes to the Marriage Amendment. From Committee Treasurer to District Chair to Precinct Captain to Rules Committee Chairman to a Loudoun County Volunteer Coordinator for my own victorious campaign last year, Mark has shown his mettle where it counts — in the planning councils, in the trenches, on the phones and on the streets. He has the proven skills at organization, mobilization, fund-raising and finance to head up a winning effort for Loudoun Republicans in 2010, 2011 and beyond.
This is tremendous news for the Sell campaign. During the past weeks of campaigning, Mark has made appearances before the the good folks at Leisure World, LCWC, the LCRC and lastly the fiscally challenged BOS. Mark has received endorsements from many conservative Republicans, and his campaign delivered close to 300 applications in support of Howie Lind for the upcoming 10th district convention. Boots on the ground activism delivered those votes for Howie, and will deliver the votes for other Republicans in 2011. Ken Cuccinelli knows this and that is why he endorses Mark Sell for the Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee.
Mark sell has been a conservative voice in Loudoun County politics for years. He is an activist who has exemplified the word ‘active’. Mark has spoken before our Board of Supervisors both Republican and Democrat controlled on countless occasions. Mark has worked every election cycle, supporting our Republican party in both good times and bad. Mark has seen his fair share of big spenders on both sides of the political divide. He is a Christian, patriot and a conservative, this reality has reflected in his actions and words since the day I met him.
